Sewing-machine.



G. HOEPNER.

SEWING MACHINE.

' APPLICATION FILED OCT-27. 191s.

1,259,74. Patented Mar. 19, 1918.

2 SHEETS SHEET l- Wizness v i e. HQEPNER.

SEWING MAC'HiNE.

Patented Mar. 19, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

6 m 7 2 c 0 D E L H N W M c U D.- P A a 0 4 M 6 9 9 5 9w 9 1 Inventor:

Witness the upper my invention and GEORGE HOEPNEB, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SEWING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Eatent.

Application filed October 27, 1916. Serial No. 128,104.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE HOEPNER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have inventedacertain new and useful Improvement in Sewing-Machines, and declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, suchas will enable others skilled in the art to whichit pertains to make anduse the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, whichform a part of this specification.

Viewed in one of its aspects my invention may be said to have for itsobject to produce a simple, powerful and reliable machine for rapidlyand effectively sewing up the mouths of filled fabric bags or sacks.

One of the diificulties experienced in sewing up the mouths of largefilled sacks or bags arises from the considerable bulk and weight ofeach piece of work which causes its manipulation to be far from easy andsimple. Viewed in one of its aspects my invention may be said to havefor its object a simple means of supporting and controlling a bulkypiece of work such as a heavy filled bag, whereby its manipulation ismade easy and convenient and it may be shifted back and forth with theexpenditure of practically no effort.

The various features my invention is characterized will hereinafter bepointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for a fullunderstanding of of its objects and advantages, reference may be had tothe following detailed description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine arranged in accordance with apreferred form of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, the left from the right hand side of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on an enlarged scale taken approximately on line 3-3of Fig. .1; and

Fig. 4 is a view taken approximately on line 4:4: of Fig. 3. Referringto the drawing, 1 represents a suitable base from which rises a post orstandard, 2. On the upper end of the post or standard is supported asewing machine head, 3, so located that it will operate upon end of abag positioned beside the post. The sewing machine head may convenientlybe a umt carried by a bracket, 4,

of novelty whereby looking toward 1 which is attached to the postby asuitable clamp, 5. Beside the post is a vertical shaft, 6, which isrevolubly supported, conveniently by means of a suitable bearmg at theupper end in the bracket 4 and a suitable bearing in a bracket, 7attached to the post adjacent to the lower end ofthe shaft. On the shaft6 is a suitable bracket device, 8, adjustable lengthwise of the shaftbut held against rotation thereon. This may conveniently be accomplishedby providing the shaft with a flattened portion as indicated at 9 andproviding the bracket with a set screw, 10, engaging with the flattenedportion and, thus performing the double function of holding the bracket,8, in any desired position lengthwise of the shaft and against rotationon the shaft. The bracket 8 carries a suitable horizontal platform ortable, 11, which is preferably segmental in form and has at the inneredge an upwardly projecting flange, 12. An upright member, 13, iscarried by the bracket 8 just in rear of the table or platform, 11, andon the upper end of the member 13 is a curved shoe orguard, '14, ofapproximately the same contour as the flange 12 and lying almostimmediately above the same. The member 14: may be adjusted on theupright, 13, by loosening a holding screw, 15. The upright 13 may beadjusted vertically relatively to the bracket 8 upon loosening a holdingscrew, 16; this adjustment being desirable to permit the lower end ofthe member 13 to remain at a predetermined relation to the base of themachine, regardless of the elevation of the supporting platform ortable.

It will be seen that the work supporting table swings aboutQthe axis ofthe shaft 6, the angle of its swinging movement being indicated in Fig.3 wherein the table is shown in full lines in its work-receivingposition with the bracket, 8, engaging with the main supporting post,while the other limit of the movement of the table is illustrated indotted lines which, shows the position of the table after the work hasbeen carried past the sewing machine head.

I prefer so to construct the apparatus I that the table will alwaysreturn to its workreceiving position when free to do soso that whenempty it will always be ready to receive a bag and need not be adjustedfor this purpose. This may conveniently be accomplished by providing aweight, 17-, attached to one end of a cable, 18, which passes PatentedMar. as, ieie.

over a pulley, 19, on the main supporting post and is attached to theend of a pro ecting arm or finger, 20, attached to the shaft 6. Theparts are so proportioned that the weight 17 will always turn the shaftin the direction to bring the table into its workreceiving position,when free to do so. While it is desirable to have the table returnautomatically to a normal position, it is at the same time necessary toprovide means for carrying the work forward during the sewing'operation,in order to relieve the sewing machine feeding devices from the strainwhich would be imposed on them if they were required to pull a heavyfilled bag forwardly as the sewing progresses. To this end I haveprovided a power device in which is stored sutlicient power to swing thetable against the resistance of the weight 17 when a forward movement ofthe .work is desired and which again becomes inoperative or ineffectivewhen the work is done. This 1s conveniently accomplishedv by connectinga spring to the shaft 6 in such a way that when the machine is startedthe spring will be placed under tension, while upon.

stopping the machine the tension will be relieved. In the arrangementshown, I have,

attached-to the lower end of the shaft 6 a flexible member, 21, whichpartially surrounds the shaft; the free end of the member 21 beingconnected to one end of a spring, 22, which is in turn connected to onearm of a bell crank lever, 23. The other arm of the bell crank lever isprovided with an anti-friction roller, 24, which is engaged by one endof a lever, 25, whose other end overlies an operating treadle, 26. Whenthe operator presses his foot on the treadle the levers 25 and 23 areactuated in a direction to place the spring 22 under tension suflicientto overcome the. resistance to forward movement of the loaded table. Itis desirable that the table be held in its workreceiving position insuch a way that it will remain stationary while the work is being placedon it and to this end I have provided a catch which is released when thetreadle is depressed. The catch may consist conveniently of a bar, 27,pivotally supported between its ends as at 28 on the base of themachine; the bar having on one end a hook, 29, adapted to engage withthe lower end of the upright member 13, and having its other endoverlying the treadle 26in such a position that whenthe treadle isdepressed the hook 29 is carried down below the lower end of the upright13 and releases the table.

The operation of the treadle to release the table and store up power inthe actuating spring also starts the sewing machine through anarrangement which I shall now describe. 7 On the main supporting post,

rotatable block, 36, having a ll-shaped projection entering thedepression in the block 35. It will be seen that by turning the block36, its'wedge shaped end riding up one of the walls of the V-shapeddepression in the stationary block, causes the block 36 to movelengthwise of theshaft and to force the pulley 32 toward the pulley 34.'When the two pulleys are pressed together, the friction between themcauses them to turn in unison with each other. The block 36 is providedwith a radially extending arm, 40, which is connected by a rod, 41,-tothe rear end of the treadle 26, the parts being so proportioned thatwhen the treadle is depressed the block 36 is rotated and causes the twopulleys 32 and 34 to be clutched together. The sewing machine is drivenby a belt, 42, passing from the pulley 34 to a pulley, 43, on the mainshaft of the sewing machine.

The sewing machlne head is in the form of a simple, compact andpowerfulmachine by which heavy bags may be easily and convenientlyclosed, which will permit a double bag consisting of an inner member andah outer member to be passed through the machine twiceso' as to sew thetwo members separately, without disturbing the position of thebag on thetable or support; the bag being simply swung back after the inner memberhas been sewed and being passed again through the machine to sew theouter member. In the same way, if the thread breaks when the seam ispartly made, it is unnecessary to change the position of the bag on itssupport, the bag and its support being swung back to permit the sewingto start over again at the desired oint,

While I have illustrated anddescribed with particularity only a singlepreferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to theexact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend tocover all forms and arrangements which and a presser- 48, arrangedparallel with.eachcome within the terms employed in the definitions ofmy invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a sewing machine, a work support movable back andforth past the sewing machine, means tending constantly to bring saidsupport to one limit of its movement, and means for simultaneouslysetting the sewing machine in operation and causing the support totravel toward the other limit of its movement.

2. In combination, a sewing machine, a work support movable back andforth past said sewing machine, means tendingconstantly to move saidsupport in one direction, a device adapted to move said support in theother direction in opposition to the aforesaid means, and means forcontrolling the action of said device on said support.

3. In combination, a sewing machine, a work support movable back andforth past said sewing machine, means tending constantly to move saidsupport in one direction, a device adapted to move said support in theother direction in opposition to the aforesaid means, and means forsimultaneousl y setting the sewing machine and said device in operationand for simultaneously stopping the sewing'machine and rendering saiddevice inoperative.

4:. In combination, a sewing machine, a work support movable back andforth past said sewing machine, means tending constantly to move saidsupport in one direction, a power device connected to the support formoving it in the opposite direction, and means for simultaneouslysetting the sewing machine in operation and storing power in said powerdevice. I

5. In combination, a sewing machine, a work support movable back andforth past said sewing machine, means tending constantly to move saidsupport to one limit of its movement, a catch for holding said supportat the latter limit, a power device connected to the support for movingit toward the other limit of its movement, and means for simultaneouslyreleasing said catch and storing power in said power device.

6. In combination, a sewing machine, a work support mounted so as to becapable of moving back and forth past the machine, means tendingconstantly to move the support in one direction, a spring adapted tomove the support in the opposite direction, and means for intermittentlystoring sufficient power in the spring to cause it to move the saidsupport.

In combination, a post, a sewing machlne mounted onthe upper end of thepost,

a horizontal work support mounted on said post below the machine so asto be capable of swinging back and forth beneath the machine, meanstending constantly to move said support in one direction, and means forsimultaneously setting the sewing machine in operation and causing thesupport to move in the other direction.

8. In combination, a post, a sewing machine at the upper end of thepost, a vertical shaft revolubly supported at one side of the post, ahorizontal bag support mounted on the said shaft and ad ustablelengthwise of the latter, a weight acting on the shaft and adapted toturn it in one direction, a

spring connected to the shaft and adapted to turn it in the otherdirection when placed under sufficient tension, and means forsimultaneously starting the sewing machine and placing said spring undertension.

9. In combination, a post, a sewing machine at the upper end of thepost, a vertical shaft revolubly supported at one side of the post, ahorizontal bag support mounted on the said shaft and adjustablelengthwise of the latter, means tending constantly to turn said shaft inone direction, and means for simultaneously setting the sewing machinein operation and causing the shaft to turn in the opposite direction.

10. In combination, a sewing machine, a work support mounted so as tobecapable of swinging back and forth past the sewing machine, meansindependent of the sewing machine for moving said support in onedirection, additional means for moving sai support in the opposltedirection, and a common controller for said sewing machine and saidmeans.

11. In combination, a sewing machine, a work support movable back andforth past the sewing machine, means for moving sai support in bothdirections, ing said support at one limit of its movement; and a commoncontroller for said sewin machine, said means and said catch.

12. n combination, a vertical supporting post, a sewing machine in theform of an inverted U attached to the upper end of the post and arrangedat one side thereof, an oscillatory vertical shaft arranged beslde saidpost, a work-supporting table fixed to said shaft at a point below saidsewing machine, means for oscillating said shaft 1n both directions soas to carry the table back and forth, and a common controller for saidsewing machine and said means.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification.

GEORGE IIOEPNER.

a catch for hold-

